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Gunnamatta, Wentworth
Gunnamatta (/ˌgʌnəˈmætə/), colloquially known as Gunna, is an affluent waterside suburb in the Wentworth Borough of Bayswater. It occupies the tip of the Bayswater Peninsula and is mainly medium-density residential, with commercial developments along its western edge bordering the neighbouring suburb of Bayswater. The suburb is named after Gunnamatta Bay in Sydney, Australia. The name derives from a Dharawal Aboriginal word meaning place of sandy hills. Until 1969, the area was known as Herne Bay. History The Bayswater Peninsula was originally a heavily forested area, with the eastern tip of the peninsula swampland being mainly swampland. The land was later cleared with the swamps reclaimed in the late 18th century to make way for a large public park. The peninsula was named Bayswater after the neighbourhood of the same name in London. Starting from the mid-19th century, Bayswater became a working class industrial and port community due to its location at the mouth of the Swan River and being across the water to the Wentworth Docklands. Factories, wharves and shipbuilding yards occupied most of the suburb by the start of the 20th century. Over time, the industrial part of Bayswater developed an unsavoury reputation for its squalor living conditions and street violence. The area was dominated by the working class and was regarded as a slum. Residents of the residential area became increasingly agitated about the association of their suburb with the industrial area and its violence, and in 1920 the northeastern end of the peninsula was renamed Herne Bay, while the southwestern residential part retained the Bayswater name. After World War II Herne Bay began to experience serious urban decay as the industry moved to the outer suburbs and Hounslow Bay in Wentworth's far northeast. A majority of the suburb's residents moved out into Wentworth's new post-war residential suburbs, and Herne Bay lay largely derelict. In 1961, a fire broke out in a disused factory, ravaging a third of the suburb's buildings. Following this, the entire suburb was bulldozed, demolished and rebuilt starting from 1963 as part of a large redevelopment plan to revitalise the area. Herne Bay was renamed Gunnamatta in 1969, in large part to remove the stigma with living there, and was subdivided starting from 1970. Almost all heavy industry has vanished from the modern suburb, replaced by mostly medium-density residential and commercial developments. The last remaining industrial area on the Bayswater Peninsula was located to Gunnamatta's west in northern Bayswater, and was redeveloped into the Bayswater Boardwalk precinct in the 1980s. By 1980, Gunnamatta had largely shed its reputation as a derelict industrial suburb in favour of a quiet inner-city middle-class residential suburb. This would all soon change when the Wentworth metropolitan government announced plans in 1983 to construct a new road bridge connecting Bayswater Road in Gunnamatta to the new Bayswater Expressway in St Kilda, across the mouth of the Swan River. The residents of Gunnamatta were vehemently opposed to such a bridge, and lobbied intensely to cancel the project. Opponents of the bridge focused on the negative impacts the bridge would have on Gunnamatta's atmosphere, while pro-public transport groups criticised the large volume of cars predicted to travel through the formerly quiet suburb. Nonetheless, the construction went ahead, and the Bayswater Bridge was opened in 1989. Today, Gunnamatta is highly affluent, and bears little resemblance to its pre-1960s self. It has become one of Wentworth's most expensive suburbs. Although through traffic has significantly increased due to the Bayswater Bridge, for the most part the suburb has retained its quiet and leafy character. Commercial area Gunnamatta's main commercial area is centred around Wolger Street in the suburb's south, surrounding the main metro station entrance. There are various businesses including a cafe, doctor's surgery and a Subway restaurant. A smaller group of shops is located in the north of the suburb, near Harbourfront station. Transport Gunnamtta is served by two Wentworth Metro stations. Gunnamatta station is the penultimate station travelling southbound on the Swan Line. The underground platforms can be accessed from Wolger Street or Taplan Road. Harbourfront station is the terminus of the Swan Line, and provides an interchange with Circle Line services. It serves the northern part of the suburb and is located directly under the Bayswater Bridge. The main vehicular thoroughfare through the suburb is Taplan Road, which travels in a northeast-southwest direction. It is the only road connecting the northern and southern parts of the suburb, which is bisected by the Bayswater Expressway.